This page was last modified on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:47:18 AM
There are numerous projects ongoing on the Barbee Chain or certainly in our watershed. Groups that are doing projects on our watershed include the BLPOA and Tippecanoe Watershed Foundation. The BLPOA projects are typically weed control and dredging. TWF's projects are to improve our water quality. Select
TWF projects to get an idea of the type of watershed projects that are improving our water quality.
Two significant projects for the BLPOA are weed control and dredging. Information on these topics follows.
Weed Summary for 2009
During the 2009 growing season the following Weed Eradication actions were taken:
June 1-2, 2009 120 acres of Eurasian Water Milfoil treated on Banning, Big Barbee, Irish, Little Barbee, Sawmill and Sechrist lakes.
June 4-5, 2009 Tier II aquatic plant surveyed on all seven lakes.
June 10, 2009 Additional treatment of Eurasian Water Milfoil on Sechrist Lake.
July 9, 2009 Treat all channels for Algae.
August 6-7, 2009 Tier II aquatic plant surveyed on all seven lakes
October 10, 2009 Public meeting to discuss aquatic plant survey results and treatment.
November 19, 2009 Meeting between BLA, JFNew, Weed Technology, Inc, and IDNR to discuss 2010 treatment options.
Weed Updates 9/22/09
With fall in the air, another lake season is coming to an end. All weed spraying on the lakes has come to a halt. Next year presents a challenge to us. We are anxiously awaiting to see how much monies we will receive from LARE grants. We encourage all property owners to join the association to help us maintain our lakes. Join us at our next monthly meeting, which will be held on the 10th of October. Here you will be able to voice your concerns. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Weed Updates 8/23/09
At the last (August) BLPOA meeting a main topic of the discussion was the availability of monies for weed control for next spring and summer. Tony Cunningham, our weed control applicator, had wanted to do another spraying for the eurasian milfoil weed this fall. However, we had to tell Tony that we do not have the money for this last spraying project. Therefore, the Barbee Lakes spraying project for this season has ended.
A major concern for next year is the availability of money for the spraying of the Barbee Lake chain. The two main sources of money comes from LARE grants and the number of property owners that join the BLPOA.
No one knows for sure how much money (if any) we will receive from LARE. Hopefully our share of LARE money will be equal or more than we received for this year. Our main concern is getting more property owners to join the BLPOA. Any person or family that has interests in our beautiful chain of lakes should really consider joining our organization. Part of your membership dues would go to controlling the weeds on our lakes.
Dredging Update for the 2009 Annual Meeting
During the Fall of 2008 the Lare Grant dredging of the Public Launch channel and the B8-B9 channel on Kuhn Lake was completed by the end of November. The only problems encountered were some mechanical difficulties on the dredge itself and some floating debris (lilypads) from the launch channel. Due to the early freeze on the lake, plans to clean them up had to be postponed until the channels thawed. Due to the high water in the spring there was no floating debris to clean up. For the residents who were concerned that the lilypads would sink and take root, because they were trapped in the ice from November thru February the root and tendrils rotted and became pulpy and soft.
Part 2 of Phase II is in progress. The plan for 2009 is to dredge the channel between Kuhn Lake and Big Barbee Lake and to dredge a channel between B-25 & B-26 Lanes on the South end of Big Barbee which was silted due to soil erosion passing through drain tubes installed by Kosciusko County many years ago.
Approval of the LARE Grant for the Big Barbee Lake dredging and the channel dredging between Kuhn Lake and Big Barbee Lake was received in late March. The dredging permit application was been filed and approval was received in late June.
We have a spoils site available at the buffalo ranch at the top of the hill on the South side of S. Barbee Drive. The dredging company will begin excavation of the site by the end of July with dredging operations projected to begin in September on the Big Barbee channel and the channel between Kuhn and Big Barbee lakes.
Weed Status as of 7/20
On Saturday, July18, at the annual meeting of the BLPOA, Tony Cunningham gave us an update on the weed spraying on the Barbee chain. Tony is the major applicator for Weed Patrol, Inc. According to Tony, the main spraying this year has been for the Eurasian milfoil and the algae. Algae blooms have been a major problem this year on all lakes. Tony mentioned that the heavy rains have contributed to the increase in algae blooms. The heavy rains have caused more runoff that helps to "feed" the algae. Tony urged that property owners be very careful what they put on their lawns. For instance, people that fertilize their lawns should use lake-friendly fertilizer. This means that you should use fertilizer that contains no phosphates (the middle number on the bag should read 0).
Property owners that have had trouble with native weeds can individually contact Tony for spraying next year. This spraying would have to be paid entirely by the property owner. There will be further details later on this web site how you can contact Tony.
Weed Status as of 6/20
Neil Schwartz reported that milfoil and curly leaf treatments in lake waters and channels had been completed. Tony Cunningham noted that the curly leaf population had greatly diminished and that he would see if LARE funds for curly leaf spraying could be transferred to cover the cost of milfoil treatment.
A lake-wide treatment for algae will be completed prior to the July 4th week-end. Any additional algae treatment in channels will be delayed until we can be sure we have adequate funds.
Weed Status as of 5/28
With the inclement weather and high water our weed spraying schedule has been delayed for at least two weeks. June 1st will be the earliest that spraying will start. Tony Cunningham, our weed control applicator, says he is way behind schedule due to the bad weather and high waters. Apparently the last few years spraying of the curlyleaf has been successful. However, the milfoil is showing up in great numbers. We encourage all property owners to become members of the BLPOA and to contribute to the high cost of the chemicals for spraying. With the LARE grants being considerably lower this year we need more people to become members of this beneficial organization.
Weed Treatment Info
Weed treatment only happens if the exotic weeds are found to be present. Curly leaf pond weed (left below) and eurasian milfoil (right below) are the targeted exotics.
LARE monies do not cover treatment of our 41.3 acres of channels (There are 702 houses on the Barbee Lake Chain channels). It pertains only to lake front areas. The expense of channel treatment is a separate contract price between Weed Patrol and our Association!
Please remember to use only “lake friendly” lawn fertilizers. These are available at most retail outlets. ONE pound of phosphorus can produce up to 10,000 pounds of lake vegetation!!!!!! If you use a commercial company to care for your lawn, please specify NO phosphates on your lawn, and GET IT IN WRITING!!!
If you are a paid member and have made a donation to the weed control and feel you have a problem, please contact me. Otherwise I cannot help you. Please visit our website for further information and contacts (www.barbeelakes.org).